"Everybody's got their own approach," said the Burlington native. "I'd love to tell you mine, but I have to defend my title in two hours. I don't want to let anyone know how I play. It worked for me last year."

Rammage, 35, took the title last year after entering the competition on the advice of a friend.

He won bragging rights as well as a nice chunk of change.

WON $7,000

"Seven-thousand dollars is nothing to sneeze at," he said, referring to last year's top prize.

Rammage was at the Steam Whistle Brewery last night for the fourth annual RPS World Championship.

About 500 people -- including teams from Norway, the U.S., Britain and Australia -- competed for the RPS trophy and $10,000 in cash, said organizor Douglas Walker.

Geir Arne Brevik, 25, travelled from Oslo with 10 or so Team Norway teammates.

Brevik, who formed the Norwegian RPS Society, which numbers 950 members, dismissed allegations the game is just about luck.

"It's a game of strategy," he said. "There's a lot of psychology, a lot of tactics. It's like chess, but it's not the same as chess."

Standing around before the competition started, Rammage and his Team Everyman teammates Rob Butler and Ted Graham couldn't help but balk at the competition.

"I'm not impressed," Graham said, surveying the room of competitors.

"There's no effort, no effort put in their uniforms," said Rammage who, along with his mates, wore a bowling shirt boasting his team's name.

"They're just civilians," Butler said, referring to the prevailing casual style of dress at the event.

"That definitely is a reflection of their commitment to the game," Rammage joked.

When told that other competitors had said RPS is purely a game of chance, the three sneered.

"How many championships do they have?" Butler said, sparking laughs from his friends.

"Then why don't they just go buy a lottery ticket?" Graham said.

The winner was to be decided in a competition after midnight.

RULES OF THE GAME

In case you led a sheltered childhood, here's quick rundown of the rules of rock paper scissors: Players, with a closed fist, simultaneously pump their fists down then up, playing their hand on the third downward pump.